This invention relates to novel switch gear which includes a housing of a generally rectangular cross-sectional configuration defined by four side walls, a top wall and a rear wall. An actuation device is carried by the top wall for operating at least one main contact bridge displaceable generally normally toward and away from the top and bottom walls to effect "ON" and "OFF" switch positions with at least two fixed associated contact rails. The fixed contact rails have ends projecting through opposite side walls of the housing for electrical connection to electrical leads by associated connector screws.
A switch gear of the type just described in normally mounted in practice under very diverse operational conditions. However, two basic types of mounting can be distinguished. In one type of mounting the actual switch gear is fastened behind an assembly plate and the actuation means is located on a side opposite thereto, namely, on the operating side of the assembly plate through an associated bore hole or other aperture in the assembly plate through suitable connecting elements. This type of switch gear mounting is employed frequently in switching desks or control panels where it is desired to have quick access to the switch gear.
Another and basically different type of mounting of the switch gear involves a separate switch gear mounted serially next to and one above the other within a switching desk. In this case, standard support rails are often used to serially fix the switch gears in place and the support rails are in turn generally electrically connected to the inside of a switching cabinet. Often the switch gear can be mounted directly onto a support plate whereby the back of a particular switch gear rests against that particular support plate.
Most conventional switch gear is equipped with a number of connector screws for connecting electrical leads thereto. There may be six connector screws for each switch gear but more often than not, there is substantially more. Obviously, a problem arises because the switch gear must be first fixed in place before the electrical hook-up leads can be assembled, tightened and clamped by the connector screws. When mounting switch gear of the type first mentioned herein, namely on the back side of an assembly plate, access to the connector screws can be achieved in practice only from the back of the switch gear, which at times is at a minimum inconvenient and at times more often than not virtually impossible due to lack of accessibility.
As to the second-mentioned mounting type, access and actuation of the connector screws by a screwdriver can only take place from the front side of the switch gear. Hence, conventional switch gear of both types just described suffer from the serious drawback of the difficulty of mounting and/or assembling thereto appropriate electrical hook-up leads. This has been overcome by innumerable variations in styles, shapes and designs of switch gear, but the difficulty here is that a substantial stockpile of such different types of switch gear is the only certain approach to solving in particular mounting problem, but such stockpiles represent undesired capital asset expenditures.